Dale M. Gallagher, DDS

Meet Oral Surgeon Dr. Gallagher

Dr. Gallagher has practiced Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Austin, Texas, since 1984. He is one of the only oral surgeons in central Texas to complete two years of residency training in anesthesiology. Dr. Gallagher feels that, “As oral surgeons, we perform a lot of surgery in our office, and I wanted to be optimally prepared to offer a full range of pain control and anesthesia to my patients. We can provide safe, effective anesthesia for people of all ages, from small children to the elderly. It is normal for people to be apprehensive about surgery, so comprehensive anesthesia training and experience benefits everyone, particularly very nervous patients.”

Dr. Gallagher was born in Riverside, California. Growing up, his father served in the U.S. Air Force, so his family traveled and lived in many states and countries, including Hawaii and the Philippines. As a youth, Dr. Gallagher became an Eagle Scout, and as an adult became a scout leader. He earned advanced Boy Scout adult certifications in Wood Badge and Powder Horn.

Dr. Gallagher attended Heidelberg College in Tiffin, Ohio, where he graduated with an undergraduate degree in biology. He received his doctorate in dentistry (DDS) from New York University College of Dentistry in New York, New York, in June 1977. Following this, he completed his first year of anesthesiology residency at The Mount Sinai Hospital and Medical School in New York, New York, in June 1978. His second year of fellowship training in anesthesiology was completed at the John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, in June 1979. In 1979, he became a Diplomate in the American Dental Society of Anesthesiology (ADSA).

Dr. Gallagher finished three years of oral and maxillofacial surgery residency at the Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas, in June 1982. He completed certification for membership in the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) in 1981, and passed the examinations to become a Diplomate of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (ABOMS) in 1984.

During his residency training he also performed clinical research, co-authored many scientific papers, presented lectures at many national scientific meetings, and contributed to textbooks about the correction of facial deformities, as well as other topics. Dr. Gallagher served as a lecturer/surgeon to the Australian and New Zealand Societies of Surgery in Melbourne, Australia, where he demonstrated reconstructive surgery. He also donated his surgical skills performing cleft lip and palate operations in Guatemala City for the non-profit “Heal the Children” project and also took part in the Honduras Medical Mission in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Following his residency training, he enjoyed private practice and taught medical students and residents at the Brown University Medical School and hospitals in Providence, Rhode Island. A year later he declined the opportunity for a teaching position with private practice opportunities in Rhode Island to pursue his longtime goal of living and practicing oral and maxillofacial surgery in Austin, Texas.

Dr. Gallagher is married, and he and his wife have four children and one grandchild. In his spare time, Dr. Gallagher enjoys beekeeping, ranching, and tending a large garden.